Canada Bread drops inquiry

25 March, 2009

Canada Bread Company, the parent company of the UK’s biggest bagel supplier Maple Leaf Bakery, will take no further action following an internal investigation into allegations that an employee at its UK bakery operations may have sought to influence the pricing of a competitor.

Lynda Kuhn, senior vice president, communications and consumer affairs, told British Baker that initial allegations made in a tabloid newspaper in December 2008 involving The Bagel Group - a company Maple Leaf had previously been in talks with to acquire - were unfounded and that no evidence had been supplied to substantiate the claims, despite requests.

She said: “While we requested a copy of the video tape [which allegedly showed an employee involved in price fixing], we have not received it – and no further action will be taken by the company.” The Office of Fair Trading does not plan to conduct an investigation into the matter.